Double Dragon is back! Well, realistically it never really went anywhere, but Arc System Works and Yuke’s have finally produced a new mainline Double Dragon brawler for the first time since Double Dragon IV in 2017. Double Dragon Revive is here, and it approaches the belt scroller/brawler/beat ‘em up action genre from a new angle—quite literally, as we’ll get to shortly. 

To celebrate this historically significant release, we’ve put together a Double Dragon Revive guide to help you conquer these scrolling streets, unlock additional characters, and more.

Double Dragon Revive combat guide

Most of your time in Double Dragon Revive is spent exactly how you’d want and expect: beating people up. The boys are back in town, by which we mean the Lee brothers are back in…something resembling New York City a decade or so removed from nuclear war. 

But this time around, you don’t just walk back and forth and mash the punch and kick buttons. There’s more going on under the hood in Double Dragon Revive, so here are a few things you need to keep in mind if you want to succeed.

Watch your feet, and mind your fists

Double Dragon Revive’s planes of movement are a little unconventional. This belt scrolls in multiple directions, you might say. Double Dragon Revive does its best to keep up with the action, but if you aren’t paying attention, it’s very easy to whiff your attacks in the wrong direction—especially when things get crowded. The answer is generally to slow down, let yourself process what’s happening on-screen, and then start throwing hands. Button mashing is a good way to box air and eat damage.

No seriously, slow down

The worst way to play Double Dragon Revive is like you’re playing Streets of Rage 4. You will die and be sad. 

Your defensive options are limited, and require precision to use effectively. Lots of enemies have super armor and guard-breaking attacks. And your combos will fizzle into nothing if you just hit buttons. We recommend starting with Jimmy, as he’s a little huskier than his brother, and will help you adjust to Double Dragon Revive's intended cadence. 

Focus on playing clean before playing aggressive. You won’t make it to the end otherwise. Get a feel for what puts enemies in a “juggle” state, how long you have to capitalize, and what you can do before your foes fall back to the ground. Add in some wall-bounces and you can yank most basic enemies’ whole health bars away before they can respond.

No meters to manage

Your basic move set includes a Normal Attack, a Special Attack, and a Hyper Blow, in addition to more specialized techniques. It’s crucial to keep in mind that Double Dragon Revive doesn’t hold you back with meters or recoil damage. If you’re used to other beat ‘em ups you may hesitate to use that Hyper Blow, which for the Lee brothers is a spinning attack (and your best defense against being surrounded). There’s no cost to using it though, and not only is it a great defensive tool, it’s also a good way to end a combo. But like we said earlier, don’t mash buttons! Hyper Blow has a long recovery window, so only use it when you need it. 

Finishing Blow is the only move governed by a limited resource. Otherwise all your tools are always at your disposal. And you’ll need them.

Gotta use the gimmicks

Gimmicks are one of the best features in Double Dragon Revive. Basically, if something lights up with a purple outline when you approach it, that’s a Gimmick, meaning you can interact with the object in question when you smash an enemy into it. Grabbing and throwing enemies or punting them with your Special Attack are both effective, and the payoff is profound. Gimmicks are not only hilarious—you can smash dudes into every available window of a car for example, making a sort of junkyard murder bouquet—but you get a massive score boost for using them.

 

Unlockable characters in Double Dragon Revive and how to get them

There isn’t a ton of unlockable content in Double Dragon Revive, but there are some characters you can play as besides Billy and Jimmy. Here’s how to unlock them:

Marian

You don’t have to play much in order to use Marian, continuing the Double Dragon tradition of upgrading this character from “girl who gets punched and kidnapped in the opening” to part of the combat crew. Simply get past Chapter 1 - Warehouse District and beat Roper and you’ll be able to pick Marian next time you select a character. 

Marian is a speedy character that has limited crowd options but more combo potential, and mobility-oriented moves that can shoot you across the screen. You have to be extra careful with her, but you can also pull off some impressive stuff with practice.

Ranzo

Chapter 4 - Dragon Padoga is a massive gauntlet, an ordeal that pushes you to survive through multiple waves of enemies, few checkpoints, and several boss fights. But get through it, and you’ll unlock the ability to play as Ranzo, one of the bosses you have to get through in this chapter. 

Ranzo is a quirky character who uses tools and special ninja powers, so he’s a bit harder to figure out—but his high movement speed and damage make him worth the extra effort up front.

 

Double Dragon Revive Extra Mode strategies and rewards

Apart from the story, Double Dragon Revive also includes Extra Mode, a set of escalating challenges that really test your mastery and understanding of what the game has to offer. By completing these challenges you unlock visual novel-style story vignettes for various characters—so if you’ve ever been cursed with the kind of curiosity that only a backstory for Abobo could satiate, you’re gonna have to take Extra Mode on. And if you think some of the story’s later levels are tough, Extra Mode is here to show you the depths can run still deeper.

The challenges in Extra Mode seem straightforward, but can be amusingly deceptive. The first challenge, for example, seems impossible at first. How can you take out 40 enemies in less than a minute? Not with your fists—but you’ll notice a baseball bat spawns on the floor at the beginning. If you hit an enemy up and into the gongs lining the stage’s upper wall, the vibrations will cause a bunch of dynamite to fall, wiping out the entire wave in an instant. Enemies will continue dropping baseball bats, revealing that you’ve stumbled into something more akin to Super Monkey Ball than a hardcore test of skill.

With that in mind, keep an eye out for Gimmicks in each stage that could end up being central to meeting those absurd-looking time limits. Things aren’t always as they seem in Extra Mode, and the game won’t offer you much in the way of hints.

 

How long is Double Dragon Revive? How many chapters?

If you’re wondering how much content is packed into Double Dragon Revive and how long you can expect it to take, here is the information you seek. There are eight chapters in total, although the length of each chapter varies greatly. Lots of different factors will impact your total runtime, from your own skill level to which difficulty (out of three) you play on. That said, you can probably expect to spend anywhere from two to four hours on a run, give or take. 

You can track your scores and times on the Chapter Select menu, in both single and multiplayer. There’s also a Global Ranking leaderboard in the online menu, so do your best!

That's it—you’ve been armed with enough information to master Sou-Setsu-Ken, tackle the slums of this urban wasteland, and defeat the Shadow Warriors gang. Best of luck out there on the scrolling streets!

Double Dragon Revive is now available on the Epic Games Store.